Metro-North derailment: The latest

Matt Kozar reports from the scene at the Bronx

December 2, 2013 11:43:41 AM PST

Eyewitness News

NEW YORK --

All of the cars in the wrecked Metro-North train have been righted and returned to the tracks as federal investigators try to determine the cause of Sunday's deadly accident when a Metro-North commuter train rounding a riverside curve derailed in the Spuyten Duyvil section of the Bronx.

The derailment killed four people, injured more than 60 and raised questions about whether excessive speed, mechanical problems or human error could have played a role.

Two cranes were used Monday afternoon to slowly lift the lead car. It had landed just inches from the water.

NYPD Emergency Service Unit members went to the area where that car had been lying. They used rakes and pitchforks to sift through the dirt, looking for any evidence.

Nearby, an Amtrak train emitted a mournful sounding horn as it slowly passed along the Hudson River.

In all, there are seven cars plus a locomotive.

The second car, which had landed on its side, has a badly dented roof.

Two data recorders retrieved from the commuter train that veered off a sharply curved track by a river's edge, killing four people, may shed light on key factors including the train's speed and how brakes were applied, a National Transportation Safety Board member said Monday as the agency sought to ask the engineer and conductor what went wrong.

The NTSB was downloading data from a recorder previously found in the rear locomotive in the Metro-North Railroad train that derailed Sunday in New York. A second recorder was found in the front car of the train and has been sent to Washington for analysis, NTSB board member Earl Weener said.

Investigators have already had some success in retrieving data, but the information has to be validated before it's made public, Weener said.

Investigators planned to interview the engineer and conductor Monday or Tuesday, Weener said. He said clues also could be found from a signaling system, which dispatchers operate from a central location.

Hudson Line commuters endured an extended train-bus-subway commute a day after a fatal train derailment in the Bronx. MTA spokesman Adam Lisberg said Monday that 2,200 people used shuttle buses between the Yonkers station and No. 1 subway train. Ridership on the Harlem line was up 25 percent. The MTA, which runs Metro-North, said riders should expect delays and crowded conditions. Hudson Line service between Tarrytown and Grand Central will remain suspended until further notice. Bus service is being provided between White Plains and Tarrytown Stations for customers wishing to travel in and out of Grand Central.

MTA Bus is providing a bus shuttle between the Yonkers Station and the 242nd Street terminus of the Broadway #1 local subway, until further notice.

New York City Subways will operate two additional #1 local trains per hour during the peak periods.